'It's just you and a syringe full of risk' — weight-loss raid watchdog

Northamptonshire has been at the centre of two of the UK's biggest-ever law enforcement investigations into illicit weight loss drugs - according to the UK medicines watchdog.

In October 2025 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), supported by Northamptonshire Police, raided a warehouse on an industrial estate in Northampton.

The agency seized 2,000 pre-made injectable pens and £20,000 in cash in the operation, in which officers claimed to have uncovered the first ever "large scale illegal manufacturing facilities" for weight loss jabs.

Then, last week, a further raid - this time at a country estate in Northamptonshire - led to the seizure of 12,000 illicit jabs and two men, both aged 29, were arrested.

Andy Morling, head of the MHRA's criminal enforcement unit, pulls no punches in describing the potential dangers of illicit weight-loss jabs.

"It's just you and a syringe full of risk," he says.

But what is known about the first Northampton operation, what impact did the raid have and is the public now safer from the potential dangers of illicit weight-loss jabs?

Tenter Road on the Moulton Park industrial estate, three miles (5km) north of Northampton town centre, could be on any such estate in the UK with cars parked haphazardly on pavements and delivery lorries zooming in and out.

The building, with its grey corrugated roof, appeared shuttered up when the BBC visited.

Although the MHRA would not confirm the location, the BBC used information from Companies House, to identify it and spoke to businesses on either side of the warehouse that said they had witnessed the raid.

One employee said they had seen "40 people" being led out, another said they continued to see a man going into the premises most mornings.

The jabs seized included tirzepatide and retatrutide.

Tirzepatide, is most commonly sold under the brand name Mounjaro, produced by the US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, and used to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity.

But according to the MHRA these jabs were not made by the firm. It is likely those behind the operation imported the raw active ingredients and turned it into an injectable solution.

Although approved for use in the UK, it should always be prescribed by a medical professional and produced in a licensed lab.

Retatrutide is a new type of weight-loss medication which is currently undergoing clinical trials by Eli Lilly, but is not yet approved for use either in the US or UK.

Weight-loss jabs currently make up only a small proportion of the medicines seized by the MHRA, with the majority of trafficked drug seizures being controlled medicines such as painkillers.

In 2025 24 million doses of illicit medicines were confiscated, of which weight-loss jabs were less than 1%.

Morling said the Northampton warehouse site is believed to be the "world's first illegal manufacturing facility" where criminals had created their own brand rather than producing fake versions of a legitimate brand.

Production and distribution methods for such jabs may "evolve" as the patents for these drugs expire and cheap generic versions become available, he added.

The raid on the Northampton warehouse revealed stacked boxes of pre-filled weight loss jabs, in sophisticated-looking packaging branded "Alluvi Healthcare".

But the connection between those involved in this production facility and a brand which appears all over the internet remains unclear.

Web searches reveal Alluvi has numerous website addresses hosted in the US but the details of those behind it are redacted.

Multiple accounts also exist on social media apps including Telegram, as well as several websites selling the products, always labelled as "research and development" formulas.

The main Alluvi-related Telegram account has 14,146 subscribers and a linked account has been advertising the products offering 25% discounts and providing users with video guides on how to store and take the jabs.

To see whether it was still possible to buy jabs from Alluvi, the BBC carried out a test purchase from one of its websites, which accepted payments via bank transfer, PayPal or cryptocurrency.

The jab never arrived.

Morling said his team had taken down "400 social media posts and websites" selling illicit weight loss jabs.

But he admits "the internet is a challenge" which "can't be policed in the conventional sense".

Morling said his team was trying to tackle the problem "at its root", acknowledging "there's an organised crime group behind most of these [websites]" and the unit is "working proactively to take out the criminals themselves".

The MHRA has confirmed seizures made at a Northamptonshire country house, last week as well as those in February 2026 in Lincolnshire and Nottingham are connected and part of its "ongoing investigation into an organised criminal network".

Although the MHRA said it believed the Northampton warehouse site was "the world's first illegal manufacturing facility" for weight-loss jabs, it is unclear who had a connection to the premises.

Fasial Tariq, who describes himself on social media as a "digital creator and entrepreneur", owns several businesses registered to the raided warehouse address.

He is the only director of Wholesale Supplements Ltd whose Tenter Road address is, according to Companies House, the same as the unit raided by the MHRA.

The business was registered four months before the raid took place.

It claims to offer low prices for bulk purchases on "a wide range of leading sports supplements".

Tariq, who lives in Northampton, had two other firms registered there, which are now dissolved.

In January, Northampton Magistrates court approved the freezing of Tariq's bank account after the MHRA made an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Barclays account had £11,706 in it and will be frozen for 12 months.

The BBC contacted Tariq for a response but he did not reply. He is not one of the two men arrested following the most recent raid.

The corporation also contacted the owner of the Tenter Road warehouse who strongly denied any knowledge of alleged illegal activity taking place there.

According to research by University College London (UCL),1.6 million UK adults used weight-loss jabs in 2025, with most buying through private prescriptions.

A monthly private prescription of Mounjaro averages at between £150 for a starter dose and rises to more than £300 for higher doses.

UCL found about 15% of those surveyed were taking medication not licensed for weight-loss or from unlicensed providers.

Dr Jamie Green, a GP from Delapre Medical Centre in Northampton, thinks cost is a big factor driving people towards illicit medicines.

However, he warned: "The problem with cheap alternatives is that sometimes they will be getting something that's not what it says on the tin."

As well as having no idea what is in the jabs, said Dr Green, "the needles may break or snap in some way" adding buyers had no redress against an organisation "that has no duty of care to you".

"They are," he said, "just there to make money."

In February 2026 the daughters of Karen McGonigal, of Salford, Greater Manchester, who died in May 2025 after being injected with a weight-loss jab by a beautician, met with the then Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

The MHRA has warned prescription medicines "should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional."

It added jabs bought from non clinical sources either online or in person offer "no guarantees about what they contain", and "may even be contaminated with toxic substances".